


The Gifted

by MC_Creature



Category: None? - Fandom
Genre: Not really fandom?, Possible long haiatus, Sorta Fanfic, just cause
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-05-28 04:38:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6315292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MC_Creature/pseuds/MC_Creature
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Kings Gift passes away he starts an audition for a new gift. A group of abandoned gifts are sent out by their mentor to try for that stop at the kings side. As they travel to the center of the kingdom who will they meet and what will happen to their friendship?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The begining

As we wait for Michael to arrive I look around the main room. A large kitchen and living room. The whole group is here. Celeste is taking a nap on the couch and Sophie studies on the wooden coffee table in front of her. Rhiannon sits next to the fire reading through her spell book while Keigan draws next to her. When Michael finally arrives our mentor walks out of her office.  
  
“Now that you’re all here, I have some important news.” We look up at the elderly women and help her to her chair. She sighs content with the warmth of the fire.  
  
“What is it, Ada?” Michael inquires.  
  
“I have been informed that the palace is looking for a new gift. The king's old gifted, Molideon, has past away. As of next week he will be taking auditions for a new gift.” Though she smiles her tone is stiff and formal.  
  
“So? What does that have to do with us?” Sophie asks indignantly.  
  
“I want all of you to go.”  
  
“Us? Really?” Celeste starts.  
  
“Why us? We’re just children, what makes us special enough to be accepted anyway?” I feel excitement bubble in my stomach but at the same time dread and fear sneak into my thoughts. What would we do? Do we have to come up with some crazy act? What if we have to perform in front of a large crowd?! What if we're not all accepted?! I don’t like this.... Thoughts run whirl through my head.  
  
“You are not just children. You are amazing young souls, with more potential in you than you could ever imagine. I know you can do it!”  
  
“But what if we can’t...” Keigan speaks my thoughts. Ada rests her fragile hand on her head. Her eyes sparkle with warmth as she pats her head.  
  
“You will.” Suddenly she out of her chair and walking towards our rooms. “Now time to pack. It’s a couple day trek so you will part tomorrow morning at dawn. No complaining.” And with that she enters the first room. We sit in silence. She pokes her head out of a room.  
  
“Well come on! I’m not your maid! Get packing.” I laugh silently and get up, followed by my other friends.  
It’s funny somehow. We were all raised by Ada since we were little but she never treated us like the average parent. She made sure we knew how the world worked at a young age and never pitied us. But she was kind and loved us like her own. For example, were only young teenagers yet she’s sending us out on a long journey to the city, and when we doubted ourselves she reassured with strong kind words.  
I begin with packing all the essentials; clothing, toiletries, camping material since we’ll be hiking for a few days, and money. I have no idea if we’ll need any but we are going to the king's palace. I glance into the hallway and see Ada checking in on our progress.  
  
“Ada?” I ask.  
  
“Yes my dear?” She hums as she ambles over.  
  
“What else do we need to pack?” I step aside as Ada walks into my room to look at what I have.  
  
“Hmmm, let’s see.” I step next to her and watch her think. “Ask Sophie for some medical potions and pack those. Don’t forget parchment and ink to write down your journey.” I nod and get to work finding the parchment first. I find two containers of ink and grab a handful of parchment. Next I head to Sophie's room. Though her actual power is plant manipulation she has a great interest in potions. Her room is generally dark. Dark walls, dark wooden floors, and for the most part dark furniture of varied colors. When I find her she’s digging around in her potion chest. How convenient.  
  
“Hey Sophie?” She pops her up in surprise hitting her head on the propped open lid.  
  
“FUCK that hurts!” I chuckle quietly. She grumbles and stands up “So what can I help you with G?”  
  
“Ada said we should pack some medical potions just in case.” A smile spreads across her face.  
  
“Sure thing! I just made a batch yesterday, and it’s a good thing too.” She digs around her potions for a bit before standing back up with three small containers. She hands me the bottle with red liquid.  
  
“A drop or two of this should heal any cuts or scratches. A bit more if it’s big.” Then the green one.  
  
“For injected or breathed in poison consume two drops. For absorbed poison apply a cloth soaked in water and one drop of this to poisoned area and consume one drop.” Complicated. She hands me the last one. Blue.  
  
“For any internal injuries and/or sickness. Drink a capful. If that doesn’t work within one day drink another.” My head buzzes with the overload on information.  
  
“How... How do you remember all this?” Sophie laughs.  
  
“I dunno, I just do. Now pack those away carefully. You don’t want any broken bottles.” I thank her for the potions and head back into my room. Celeste lies on my bed reading a green book. Wait. Is that.... I squeak and snatch the book from her hands.  
  
“Hey! I was reading that!” She appears thoroughly offended but I can hear the mockery in her voice.  
  
“That’s personal!” I shout clutching the journal to my chest. She laughs.  
  
“Oh my! Did I uncover someone’s secret diary? I am so sorry for invading your personal space.” She says in fake sympathy.  
  
“It’s not a diary... It’s a journal.” I set the book into my pack, including the potions.  
  
“Same difference. Either way it’s juicy! You’re not just recording these things. Who are you writing all this stuff to? A secret crush?” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. I blush.  
  
“No, I just - I thought that - maybe I could - NO! It’s just a journal.” I stutter. Celeste snickers but drops the topic.  
  
“Soooo, what are those potions you just packed?” She hops over peeking into my pack.  
  
“Medical potions. I got one for cuts, poison and internal damage. Ada said I should pack them. Got any extra cloth I can borrow? I can’t risk these braking.”  
  
“Sure. But why didn’t she tell me to pack any?” Her eyes turn a starry black, and momentarily similarly colored fabrics appears over my bag before turning back to normal and falling.  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
“She told me to pack my disguise art supplies.” She lays back levitating herself with star strewn black magic.  
  
“Well I can’t exactly pack something that isn’t mine y’know.”  
  
“Ya I guess.” We sit in silence as I continue to search my room for anything worth packing. I decide to break the silence.  
  
“Did you finish packing?”  
  
“Nah just taking a break.” I look at her.  
  
“For twenty minutes?”  
  
“Hey, twenty minute breaks are very healthy!” I roll my eyes but drop the topic. Once I finish packing and sorting out anything unnecessary I manage to get the large backpack to a reasonable weight. I look up and find that Celeste has left to either continue packing or goof off with someone else. I stick my head out into the hallway. The hallway’s silent except for a gentle hum resonating from Rhiannon’s room. I creep up to doorway and see Rhiannon packing while dancing around her room.  
Timidly I step into the room. Music blasts my ears the moment I past the threshold.  
  
“Can you still hear anything?!” I shout over the loud music. She turns around and turns down the music.  
  
“Ha, yeah. What do ya need?” She continues packing moving with the upbeat music.  
  
“Nothing, just checking in.” We sit in silence for a while before I break the silence. “So, a sound barrier, eh?”  
  
“Yeah, if I didn’t Ada would get angry again.”  
  
“Ah, ok.” We fall back into silence and Rhiannon turns back up her music. When I leave I notice the shimmering pattern along the border of her room, the spell almost invisible against the pale birch floor. The hallway is a deathly silent.

* * *

“HEY! Hey wake up!” I open my eyes, blurry from sleep.  
  
“What time is it?” I roll over to look out my window. The sky is black.  
  
“Just before dawn. Remember?” I roll over and face Keigan.  
  
“How are you awake?”  
  
“Never fell asleep, that’s how.” I laugh quietly.  
  
“Is anyone else awake?” She nods.  
  
“Yeah, Rhiannon is yelling at everyone else to wake up.”  
  
“K, I’ll be out in a minute.” Keigan leaves the room and I head to my closet. I put on my usual loose shirt and jeans shorts along with an old hoodie. My dark outfit contrasts with the bright red in my awkwardly short cut hair. I give it a brush before grabbing my old pack for the trip. I go into the main room and spot Ada reading an old book in her rocking chair.  
  
“Good morning Ada.” I give my old mentor a hug and walk to the kitchen counter.  
  
“Good morning, Gillian. How did you sleep?”  
  
“Good. What about you? How did you sleep?” I grab Ada’s homemade granola and poor into into a wooden bowl.  
  
“Good good. Is everyone else up?” I nod.  
  
“There doors were closed but I think so. Rhiannon was yelling at everyone to get up earlier.” Ada laughs  
  
“Ah, yes. She has a very strong voice.” We lapse into silence except for the sound of paper turning, granola crunching and rustling sounds from the other rooms. I look up at the sound of a door opening. Rhiannon stops in her tracks.  
  
“Seriously? No one else is up?” I shake my head. She turns around and opens up everyone’s doors, much to their disapproval. Then she shouts,  
  
“Get yo lazy ass up and out of bed or i’ll drag you out myself!” I hear Celeste grumble in response and Sophie shouts some colorful words back. Michael just stays silent, sleepily walking out into the main room.  
  
“But fam!” Keigan pokes her head out of her room.  
  
“Don’t you fam me! You were supposed to be up with me!” She retorts with false sass. Keigan half laughs half sighs and momentarily goes back into her room.  
  
“Well that worked well.” I say as my friends start sauntering out of their rooms. She nods in approval and leaves to make herself some breakfast.  
  
“It’s not fair! Why do we have to get up in the middle of the night?!” Celeste groans.  
  
“It’s not the middle of the night.” I say in a sing song voice.  
  
“I know but still!” She wines terribly.  
  
“I didn’t get any sleep so stop your complaining.” Keigan bumps Celeste on the shoulder, shutting her up. I obverse the usual breakfast routine from the fire. Rhiannon sit’s next to me.  
  
“Hey fam.”  
  
“Hey, how’s I goin?” I drone the question, only half paying attention.  
  
“Oh nothing, just the usual trekking out to our brutal death’s in the middle of the night.”  
  
“Mhm, great.” I space out completely before Rhiannon’s answer fully registers. I jump once it does. “Wait what?! Death? No dieing on my watch sister!” She laughs.  
  
“Wow, you really don’t run well on little sleep do you?” I shake my head smiling.  
  
“What you’d expect? I’m not as much of a night owl as you are.” We fall into a comfortable silence.  
  
“Ok sweet hearts.” Ada stand slowly, using her cane for support. “I’m afraid it’s time to leave.” I glance out the window, a pale purple hue burns on the horizon. “I’ll finally get the peace and quiet I deserve once you mongruls are gone.” She jokes. “Now come and say good bye to Ada.” She gestures for me and Rhiannon to hug her. I stand up, setting down my bowl on the fireplace mantle, and give Ada a hug and kiss on the cheek.  
  
“I love you Ada, see you in a few weeks.” I back away to let the others say their good bye’s and grab my heavy backpack.  
  
“Look out adventure, here we come!” Michael poses dramatically at the door using his map as a sword, pointing it at the sky. Sophie shoves him telling him to stop being such a child. They laugh and walk out the door. I leave last waving goodbye to Ada and closing the old wooden door behind me.

* * *

We walk through the forest in silence, studying our maps and checking our compases. I wonder near the back of the group, listening. I jump a few times when I hear a twig snap, startlingly loud with the hearing power of mellonella moth.  
  
“You ok there?” I snap out of my trance and look up at Michael.  
  
“Yeah, yeah i’m fine. Just listening.” He stares for a second before shrugging his shoulders and dropping the topic. Though I like using the eagles power to soar through the sky I will never like walking through an overgrown forest. The bugs freak me out and I keep on hearing strange noises from unidentifiable animals. Suddenly I hear something that doesn’t belong to an animal. Bells. I pause for a second concentrating but I don’t hear it again.  
  
“Hey! You coming or what?” Celeste shout’s from a few yards ahead. I nod my head but say nothing slowly following. I take on the power of an eagles sight as well. A few times a hear the bells again but their fainter, farther away. I go against my instinct and ignore it, concentrating instead on the conversation of my friends. I regret it. The bells sound suddenly hit my enhanced hearing and I turn around just in time to see a blur of black flash past me. I scream and fall backwards. The figure winds between my group of friends until everyone of them have fallen over.  
  
“Hahaha!” The figure comes to a halt, laughing. I stare at him. His black hair drapes an inch over his ears, or where his ears should be. Dark grey ears poke out of the top of his head, flicking in amusement. His grin is mostly normal spare the sharp canine teeth and a tail wags behind him. His dark skin and mostly black clothing makes it hard to see him in the weak morning light.  
  
“What the fuck man!” Sophie shouts at him, scrambling to her feet. He flinches but doesn’t step away.  
  
“Woah, calm down. I’m just fooling around.”  
  
“ABYS?” I turn to my right and see Keigan staring at the wolf hybrid.  
  
“Keigs? What are you doing here?” He walks over to Keigan and helps her to her feet, much to Sophie’s dismay.  
  
“Were heading the palace! Did you hear that the King is looking for a new Gift?” The hybrid shakes his head in response.  
  
“Gift? What’s a gift?” His ears twitch to the side when Michael snorts.  
  
“You don’t know what a Gift is? Really?” I shove him.  
  
“Stop it, that’s rude.” He shrugs but shoves me back, making me smile. We stand.  
  
“A Gift is someone who has some sort of special power. His last Gift died so we're all going to try and audition to be the next Gift.” I stop Michael from making another snarky comment by shoving him back to the ground.  
  
“Ooooh, could I come too?” He smiles, excited. Keigan bumps his shoulder with hers.  
  
“Ya, sure!”  
  
“Woah, waoh, woah.” Sophie interjects. “We don’t even know this guy. Some hybrid can’t just come with us.” Keigan steps between Sophie and the hybrid.  
“His name is Abysmal, and he is coming with us.” Sophie laughs.  
  
“No wonder that’s his name. He really is appalling.” Abysmal attempts to interject but both Keigan and Sophie shout at him to shut up. Sophie has never really been the best of friends with Keigon. They care for eachother but can get into a fight real easily in the right circumstances.  
  
This time Rhiannon steps in. Shoving them away from each other.  
  
“Obviously Abysmal is a friends of Keigs and any friend of her’s is our friend too. Now stop fighting and get along!” Sophie and Keigan cool down and say sorry to each other. They also apologies to Abysmal. He shakes his head and tells them not to worry.  
  
“Now, I feel that we have skipped a step in our introductions. Let us introduce ourselves. My name Is Rhiannon. And are our dork friends!” She gesture to all of us. Sophie nods at him  
  
“Sophie.” Is all she says. He glances at me and I smile kindly.  
  
“My names Gillian, it’s nice to meet you.” He smiles back. Michael sticks out his hand for a handshake.  
  
“My names Michael.” They shake hands and seem to suddenly get along well. Celeste jumps up next to him.  
  
“The names Celeste! Don’t wear it out.” She jokes and walks over to stand next to me. He stays silent and Keigan elbows him in the ribs to make him talk.  
“Oh-uh. Hi, my names Abysmal but you can call me Abys. Nice to meet you all.” He smiles and we smile back.  
  
“Well, now that we're all buddy-buddy and such let’s get going!” Keigan marches ahead followed by Abys and the rest of the group. Chatter starts to fill the forest as my friends start to talk. I still stay near the back, preferring to stick to my own thoughts. The day passes slowly as we become too tired to walk. Celeste gave up a long time ago and just levitated. I tried restoring to the humming bird's wing power so I don’t get too far ahead but I can only use my powers for a few hours before I tire.  
About noon we stop at a stream to take a break. We drop on the shore under the shade of a tree, too hot to expose our skin to the unshaded heated sand. I shed my hoodie and tie it around my waist. I walk over the the edge of the stream and dip my hands in, relishing the cold water against my skin. Filtering the water through my hands and when there’s no residue I take a sip and decide the water’s safe. I turn to tell everyone when someone shouts,  
  
“Cannonball!” and jumps into the water, soaking me. I squeak in surprise. I turn back to the river and find Michael surfacing the water. He smiles cheekily. I laugh and splash him with water before walking back to the group.  
  
“Oooh, you ok?” Rhiannon asks as I walk up.  
  
“Yeah, just really wet.” She pats my shoulder before going after Michael to yell at him. I drape my sweatshirt over a low hanging branch and take off my shoes and socks. I sit next to Celeste and Keigan who are talking about drawing technics. I take out my journal and start to write. I write about what has happened and how I felt about it, y’know the usual junk. I also include how I’ll be updating more frequently to make sure I get everything from the trip. A cold and wet hand pats the back of my neck. I shriek and jump away dropping my journal and looking up at the culprit. Michael smiles at me.  
  
“Hey, come and swim.” He beckons towards the water. I looked over and realized that without realizing it I tuned out everyone allowing them to go into the water without me noticing. Everyone is in their shorts and tshirts. Why, i’m not sure but I oblige and leave the sand to join my friends. The water’s cold but satisfying against the smoldering heat but I don’t go too deep for my lack of swimming strength. We play for hours.  
  
We play in the water like kids, splashing around and pulling each other under water. When we grow tired we dry up on the bank and pack up our things. Rhiannon glances up at the sky, the sun is just starting to disappear under the trees but there is still a good hour left before it get’s to dark.  
  
“OK, let’s continue for a while and then we’ll set up camp ok?” We all agree and continue our trek through the forest. The rest of the night is mostly uneventful. The excited chatter dies down to nothing but the sounds of the forest, signaling the weariness of the group. So once the stars start to scatter across the sky we look for a decent place to sleep. Abys finds a small clearing of grass only a handful of yards off our path. We set up a small pile of wood and use one of Rhiannon's spell to light the fire and block it from spreading to a full on forest fire.  
  
Everyone gets out their sleeping bags and used their packs for pillows after determining who’s on night watch. I take first shift. I sit next to the fire using it for warmth against the cool night air. The silence of the forest is unnerving, without the sound of animals and insects scuttling around the forest sound dead. So of course with every snap of a twig or rustle of leaves I jump a mile. I must not have been as quiet as I thought I was because one of my friends turned to face me.  
  
“Are you ok? You sure are jumpy.” Michael turns on his stomach and props himself up with his elbows.  
  
“Yeah, i’m fine.” I say settling closer to the fire.  
  
“Are you sure? Cause I can take your shift too if you’d like.” I shake my head vigorously.  
  
“I’m sure. I can handle myself y’know.” I cross my arms with mock indignation. He chuckles at my actions but turns around anyways. I wish him good night and turn my attention back to the forest. I stay awake for a few hours, only feeling sleepy once the fire was dampened by night's mist and blown away by a strong burst of wind. At first I worry that it’ll be pitch black but as the embers stop glowing I notice the gentle glow growing above. I look up to the sky above my head. My eye’s widen at the wonderful view.  
  
Stars fill the clear sky. The moon is full and glows a beautiful white-blue color across the grass. The mist shines in the sky’s glory making the clearing feel like a magical land never seen before. I stare at the stars soaking in the view in an attempt to make it last forever. I start to spot constellations and different starry clusters that show the nearby galaxies. I have got to show someone. I study the position of the moon and decide that it’s close enough to midnight to wake up Michael for his shift. I reach over and poke his head. When he doesn’t stir I shake his shoulders. This time he wakes.  
  
“Is it my shift?” He asks rubbing his eyes. I nod and he looks around the clearing.  
  
“Woah.” He whispers in awe at the view.  
  
“Isn’t it amazing? I had to wake you up a bit early to make sure that at least you saw this too.” I lie down on grass ignoring the dampened grass. We stare at the sky in silence for a long time.


	2. What village?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now they find a village, a village that might not actually exist.

        When I wake in the morning, my clothes damp from lying on the night grass but my head is resting on my pack and my sleeping bag is draped over me. I must have fallen asleep without realizing it. I sit up and find only a select few wondering about. Michael is wondering around the edge of the clearing, Sophie is sitting on her sleeping bag reading a book and it looks like Keigon is starting to look stir. I look up at the sun judging where it is in the sky without burning my eyes and based of the time of the year I would guess it’s about eight in the morning. I stand up and stretch, relishing the warm sun. 

       I patt off the grass that sticks to my clothing and grab a fresh outfit to change into. I then trek out into the woods far enough away so I can change in peace. When I return to the clearing everyone is up and packing. Rhiannon takes charge again.

       “Ok! Once were all done packing need to start on our way again. Got it?” We cheer agreement and get packing. I pack my sleeping bag and clothing away but take out my journal. I write down the wonders of last night. Exaggerating the beauty and wonder it brought to the forest. My writing quickens as I attempt to write down the many thoughts flowing through my head. My quill breaks. Great. I grab my knife, a scary looking thing, and start to sharpen the feather being careful not to break it.

       “Oh, that’s a nice lookin’ tool you got there.” I glance up to see Michael leaning in to get a look at my knife. I pause my sharpening and gesture towards him.

       “Yeah, so you better keep one eye open while you sleep.” We laugh and he sits down.

       “Ok, but seriously that’s a pretty wicked looking thing. I didn’t even know you had knives.” He reaches for it and I let him take it using my partially sharpened quill to finish off the entry. After a bit he asks,

       “What are you writing about?” He hands me back my knife and I grab a nearby stick to start sharpening it.

       “Last night. I had to write it down to make sure I remember.” Michael nods in agreement.

       “Yeah, we never saw so many stars at Ada’s place. She kept too many lights and torches around for us to see much.”

       “I wish I new magic. Then I would’ve used Rhiannon's picture spell. I would’ve be able to carry it around with me in my journal.”

       “Journal, ay?” I stop sharpening the stick and look at him. He lunges across me to grab my journal. I shriek and push him away, laughing at his weak attempt to grab it. I shove the journal into my bag and hold out the sharpened stick in mock warnings. He holds up his hands.

       “Ok, ok, no looking in the journal, got it.” I toss the stick to the side and put away the knife. Then Rhiannon starts up again.

       “Everyone packed? Good, we’re off!” We scramble to grab all our stuff and catch up to Rhiannon. We walk for a good 3 hours before she let’s Keigon lead with the map and falls behind next to me.

       “Hey fam.”

       “Hey, how’s it going?” I ask politely.

       “Good, good. What about you?” I shrug my shoulders.

       “Pretty good. I saw amazing stars last night though.” I beam at the memory.

       “Cool, me too.” She shrugs nonchalantly.

       “You did? When?” I turn more of my attention towards her.

       “When you and Michael were talking in the middle of the night.” She leans on me.

       “Gh- well. I had to wake him up for his shift!” I exclaim.

       “Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.” She rolls her eyes at me, making me blush at what she's suggesting. I shove her off me and laugh. “But seriously, those stars were amazing. I even took a picture.” She takes out a scroll and shows me an exact picture of that night. The stars covering the sky and the shining tree tops edging the photo.

       “Oh that’s so cool! Can I have a copy?!” I jump at her side, stumbling on my feet as we walk. She laughs.

       “Yes, of course ya, cluts.” The scroll levitates, both it and her hands glowing pale blue. She whispers a spell under her breath and the scroll wriths as it splits into two identical copies. One drops into her hands and the other into mine. I open it up and stare, amazed at her magic. She chuckles at my wonder before we suddenly bump into the people in front of us. I stumble back onto the ground and almost drop the scroll. Rhiannon helps me up and points ahead of us.

       “I think I should go see what’s holding us up.” I put the scroll in my pack and follow Rhiannon to the front of the group. What lies there sickens me. A half burnt corps is curled up on the ground. It looks like it was trying to hide from some nasty hits and ended up dying doing so. That in itself is scary but what really worries me is that it’s a hybrid. A small, skinny bird hybrid. It’s tail is plucked short along with a broken bird feet and one of it’s used to be feathered arms reaching towards us.

       “That’s sickening.” Rhiannon whispers. She’s appears unable to turn away but I do. I wipe away tears I didn’t know were there and take in a shaky breath. When I finally turn back around I see Abys sitting next to the now properly lain corps. Though it’s not perfect it makes it easier to look now that it’s on it’s back, eyes closed and holds some wildflowers in its hands. We all take off any hat we might be wearing and stand there is silence. Abys stands up.

       “Let’s... get going.” He walks around the bird hybrid and trudges ahead. We follow in silence, Rhiannon in the lead again and Keigon comforting the sad wolf hybrid. Sophie falls into step with me.

       “Soooo... That was something.” She whistles. I nod in agreement.

       “Why would someone do that? It’s obvious that a small bird like that couldn’t do any real harm.” I pause. “Maybe he accidently caught on fire ran out here and died from the burns. Or maybe someone was just playing around and accidently killed him, or-” Sophie rests a hand on my shoulder.

       “You always look at the good don’t you?” Celeste falls into step on my other side.

       “I guess I just can’t bare the truth.”

       “Maybe...” Celeste pauses and Sophie continues her sentence.

       “Or maybe you're just a person who is kind enough to ignore the bad and think of something sad like that in a positive manner.” .

       “I dunno.” We drop the somber conversation and eventually everyone just walks in silence. We continue like this for most of the day, somber from the previous experience. Around sunset, though, we found a town. It was small and embedded in the forest.

       “A town?” Rhiannon paused to look at her map. Meanwhile I look at the scene before us. I sit down, take out some parchment and start to sketch. The town, from what I could see, was about 3 buildings wide and possibly 3 deep, not including a gap in the middle. The houses were all the same, save a few color differences. They were two stories high with a pointed, reddish tile roofs. They were white with dark wood bordering the sides and defining the two floors. They didn’t seem to have any defined yards and everything was grass except the worn dirt paths. It looked deserted but in the distance I could see some people in the clearing. I blew on the parchment before rolling it up and packing it back into my bag.

       “Hey Gillian!” I turn to look at Rhiannon. “Did you get a good sketch of this place?” I nod and walk over to the group.

       “This town wasn’t on the map. I knew it was old but not that old.” I glance at the parchment she holds. A french drawing of a building is marked in the middle of the map, sitting right on top of Ada’s magic line that marks our path. 

       “This place gives me the creeps.” Keigon mutters.

       “Yeah, well we got to go through anyways.” I agree with Sophie and we slowly walk into the town.

       As we walk I notice things I didn’t before. The paths are really worn despite the lack of people and the building are very close together.  All the doors and shutters are worn and tattered, closed or otherwise handing off broken hinges. We look in some of them and find everything inside covered in dust or destroyed. Odd... Considering the torn awnings, strewn about crates and broken shop stand i’d guess these were all abandoned family owned shops with the actual living space on the second floors.

       “Hey, I need to add some details to the sketch. Mind waiting a few minutes?” Rhiannon agrees and we all stop. I sit down and add to my drawing. The awnings now torn and building worn and cracking. 

       “Why do we have to stop for her to draw?” Abys asks, a bit rudely I might add. Keigon steps in this time.

       “Whenever we need a visual of a town, landscape, map or any scene at all we go to her. She’s a great scenic artist.” Abys laughs.

       “Why not go to you instead?” He asks this quietly but I match my hearing ability to a wolfs.

       “I’m good at drawing people but i’m not as good with scenery as she is.” I smile a bit and return to concentrating on my sketch. Once I finish it I stand up and walk next to Rhiannon.

       “Hey Rhiannon?” The streets seems to be longer than I estimated.

       “What’s up?” A  _ lot _ longer.

       “I agree with Keigon, this place is-” I pause. “Odd. It’s a lot longer and a lot-” I glance to the side at an interactions. “Bigger than I expected it to be.” Rhiannon just shrugs it off. Then she calls Celeste.

       “Hey Celeste. Could you look above the town and see how big it is?”

       “Sure thing.” A portal appears by her side and she leans in.

       “Y’know I could’ve just flown up there myself.” I look up and see a portal in the middle of the sky. Celeste leans out of it. “That’s a bit high isn’t it?” I mumble to myself.

       “Yeah, I know. But it’s cool to watch Celeste powers!” I honestly can’t argue with that. It’s scary yet wonderful at the same time.

       “Hey Celeste! You aren’t dead are you?” Michael pokes her back gently and when she doesn’t respond he pokes harder. Too hard. Celeste fell through her portal and it disappeared. I hear her shouts far above.

       “MIchael! What have you done?!” Sophie and Rhiannon shout at him while Abys just looks at him in silence disapproval. A guy thing maybe.

       “Rhiannon! Do something she’s falling!” Keigon panics, powerless in this situation. I start to panic too.

       “I’m trying, I’m trying!” She fumbles with her spell book dropping it multiple times. I look up and lose my patience. 

       I use the wing strength of a peregrine falcon to launch myself into the air. I fly up fast, too distracted to notice the dark golden wings appearing on my back. I grab Celeste but her momentum was to fast and it knocked us down. I regain my composer but the earth is nearing us at an alarming rate. I panick and just we getting to close for comfort I use the strength of an ox to slow us down. We drop onto the earth with a thud.

       I attempt to sit up but Celeste lies on top of me.

       “A little help please?” I ask and everyone snaps out of their panicked trance to help me and Celeste up. She wobbles on her legs a bit before she regains her balance and immediately shoves Michael to the ground.

       “Ow, I know I’m sorry, I made a mistake.” He stands back up only to get slapped on the face by Celeste.

       “Hey! I said I was sorry! I didn’t mean to push that hard.” She turns her back to him.

       “You need to get a better handle on your strength or else you’ll hurt someone real bad someday.” She then stomps up to Sophie will an equally severe look on her face. I have to agree, his strength can be great sometimes but he has gotten careless with it at times. I remember once when we were little. It was his first day living with us and when he got angry at our cat he hit it too hard and killed it. Since then Ada has helped him control his inhuman power. I sigh as the bickering between my friends start up and tap Rhiannon on the shoulder.

       “Should we break them up?” She nods and walks between the pair of friends.

       “OK! TIME TO SHUT UP!” She shouts loud and clear. Sophie and Michael quiet down and Celeste kicks at the dirt.

       “It happened, apologies have been made, it's done. No can we please focus on what we're here for?” They reluctantly agree and we continue our way. “So Celeste. What did you see?” Rhiannon asks as we start to walk again. Celeste opens her mouth before closing it again and then finally speaking.

       “This will sound really weird but I didn’t see the town at all.”

       “Wait, what?” Keigon comments before the rest of us get a chance. “How? You were up there for like five minutes looking down at us.”

       “That’s the thing, I could see you guys but I couldn’t see the town itself. We were all just in the middle of a field.” Rhiannon contemplates what she said, looking as if this wasn’t the most bizarre thing ever.

       “Maybe we should get out of here before something goes wro-” She was cut off by the sudden blast of music coming from all around us. I could barely hear Sophie’s colorful word string that followed the sudden blast. It was  _ very _ loud. I defend my hearing to that of a snake before lowering my hands to look around the gently humming town. Every one else else still had their hands on their ears. I looked back up and blinked in surprise. 

       The town was suddenly new and decorated. The houses similar to before but made of red clay along with colorful skeletal decorations strung on every open space. Only what surprised me the most was the crowds of colorfully painted and cloths skeletons. They danced and sang to the loud mexican music, and somehow with their uniform bones you could just tell they were smiling and grinning with joy. A small skeleton painted and dressed in a mixture of oranges and reds, about seven or eight years old I think, runs up to me. She smiles and laughs reaching her hand out for me.

       “Come! Take my hand, i’ll show you around!” Her voice resonates within my head.

       “Wait, do you talk?” I ask completely confused.

       “Well of course! I’m speaking to you right now, silly!” She laughs again, sweet and innocent.

       “Well, yes but it’s coming from inside my own head. That doesn’t make sense.” She tilts her head.

       “Oh yeah, my Daddy explained to me that since we don’t have a speaking box thing like humans we talk telapafily!” I think she means telepathically. “The way he explained it was all complicated and messed up but I think that’s what he was trying to say.” She grabs my hand pulling me towards the crowd.

       “Wait, wait!” I shout over the loud music. She stops and looks at me. “Could you turn down the music? My its to loud for my friends.” She tilts her head.

       “And it isn’t to you? How?”

       “I can turn my hearing sensitivity down or up to that of any animal.” She looks surprised but quickly returns to her childish nature.

       “Well I wouldn’t worry about your friends. Their fine, take a look!” I turn around and see my friends getting led off by other skeletons. A few of them look familiar but the little skeleton girls pulls my hand again,her bones cool against my skin. Seeing as my friends are ok I oblige and follow the girl around town. The used to be dirt under my feet now stain my shoes with red sand dust, and the cool night air now sweltering from the blazing sun above. This is  _ definetly _ a weird town.

       Right when I am about to ask where were going she stops at a small stretch of dull green grass. After telling me to stay put she runs over to a group of small skeletons even younger than her. They turn and run at me laughing and smiling. They shout _Human, human! It’s a real_ _human!_ Their excitement makes me laugh but i’m still surprised from from the sudden weight of bonnes jumping at me. They tug at my clothing asking my to hold them and asking if they can touch my hair. I tell them yes and once I sit down they start to pet and play with my short cut hair. I pick up a little boy and lift him up throwing him into the air and catching him as he giggles with glee. I play the with the little skeleton kids for most of the afternoon, forgetting about my friends and the weirdness the town brought about. A women then comes by and pulls me away from the kids.

       “Thank you for occupying the little ones so long. They can be such a handfull!” The women is short and her bones yellow from her age. She wears dull purple and blue clothing along with a few matching paints on her face and arms.

       “Oh no problem! They were fun to play with.” We laugh and the elderly voice pops into my head once again.

       “You must be exhausted! Let me get you something to eat. Come, come.” She leads me into one of the houses and gestures towards on old wooden dining table.

       “Does some pot roast sound good?” She asks as she reaches for a bowl in the high cupboard. I stand up and get the bowl for her.

       “Yes, that sounds perfect.” I stand next to her as she takes of the lid of the large pot. Steam pours out of it and it smells great.

       “Mmmm! That smells delicious!” She smiles.

       “Thank you! It’s an old family recipe, famous in this town you know!” I nod in agreement with the old women.

       "I bet! By the way, I never caught your name?” She sits across from me at the table with her own bowl.

       “Caroline. You’re Gillian, correct?” I almost choke on the broth.

       “Y-yes! How did you know?” She laughs as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

       “It’s the talk of the town! A human, after many long years, has finally come and visited the town! It’s a miracle!”

       “Is it really that uncommon? I mean, this town is in the middle of a human kingdom after all!”

       “It may be but you’d be surprised at how little humans even notice this town. Sometimes they avoid the town completely and walk around it, sometimes they turn around in fear and a few have even walked right through the town as if it wasn’t even here!”

       “Really? Jeez they must have been as blind as a bat!” I intend it as a joke but the woman doesn’t laugh.

       “Do you want to know why the kids love humans so much?”

       “Uhm... is it because their skeletons? I can understand that.”

       “It’s more than that.” I jump from the sudden serious tone in her voice. “It’s because we all  _ used _ to be humans. Most of the people here are in complete denial and have, quite literally, erased that bit of memory from the memory. While the kids are either too young to remember or too naive to think anything of it.” We sit in silence for a while as I absorb the information just given to me.

       “I should go find my friends, they should try this!” I try to act cheerful.

       “Wait, before you go I need to tell you one last thing. Get out.” I blink at Caroline in confusion. “Get out of this town and leave. Don’t ever come back.”

       “Wait, what?”

       “If you stay here too long you’ll become part of the curse so you must find your friends and leave. BUT, once you're out there act as if you just came in here for some food and this conversation never happened. Stay calm because if they find out that you’re trying to leave they will stop you.” I nod and she pushes me towards the door. “Now go, don’t look back.” I’m shoved out the door and I run into one of the little kids. It’s the boy I first lifted up.

       “Oh! There you are! Can we play some more?” He grabs my hand to start dragging me away but I stop him. He looks at me in confusion and I crouch down to his eye level.

       “I’m sorry but I can’t play right now. I need to look for my friends.”

       “Why?” He gasps. “You aren’t planning on leaving, are you?!” I make myself laugh, sounding as light and cheery as possible.

       “No, no! I would never! I would just like to talk to them and look at this city with them. Wouldn’t you want to do have fun you  _ your  _ friends, too?” His eyes widen in understanding.

       “OK then! I’ll help you find your friends!” He starts marching off like he was on an important mission. I follow him around keeping an eye out for any humans. After a few minutes if searching he stops, almost tripping me.

       “Is that one of your friends?” He points towards a crowd of people, mostly teenage guys.

       “What is goin on?” I walk past the little boy and weave through the crowd. In the center Rhiannon fights with a large skeleton, who appears to be losing. I wait it out and once the skeleton loses she stands up.

       “Who wants to take me on?” She shouts at the crowd. I step out and she swings at me. Quickly I duck onto the ground. ‘OH! It’s you! I’m sorry Gill.” She offers her hand and helps me up.

       “Nah, it’s ok. Hey, i’m looking for the rest off the gang, wanna help?” The music gets louder in the background.

       “No thanks, I’m on a roll here!” A skeleton sneaks up behind her and she punches him hard.

       “Doesn’t that hurt?” She shrugs, apparently it doesn’t. “Please? I really need your help.” She’s about to refuse again but I think quickly. “I found a great place with amazing food! I want us all to try it out.” The music dies down to a humm in the background and Rhiannon looks like she just finished pushing a boulder up a mountain. Promptly she changes her expression to great delight.

       “Food?! Yeah sure, let’s find everyone else so we can get some grub!” I sigh in relief and she pulls me away from the group. SHe opens her mouth to say something but I shake my head and walk us over to the little boy.

       “Is that your friend?” He asks. I nod.

       “Yup! Rhiannon, this is the little boy who’s helping me find our way around town.” She waves politely and he grins.

       “It’s nice to meet you, Rhiannon! My name is Timmy!” She laughs at his silly composer.

       “Ok, let’s continue looking for my friends ok?”

       “OK!” Timmy walks ahead of us and we follow a few paces behind.

       “OK, now we can talk.” Rhiannon’s face immediately falls.

       “How did you get out?! I was trying as hard as I could but I couldn’t get control of myself!” She continues to ramble and I interrupt her.

       “Wait, start from the beginning. What happened?”

       “OK, so once that insanely loud music started a skeleton walked up to me and made a rude face at me. So naturally I ran after him and before I knew it I was in a fighting group. The worst part is that I wasn’t the one fighting. Something, some _ one  _  was controlling me! It wasn’t until you showed up that I started to get a hold of myself.” I scrunch my brows together in thought.

       “I think it’s the music.”

       “What? What music-...Oh.” I see the realization dawn on her face. “You mean the mexican music?!” I nod.

       “When you first answered me the music got louder, more resilient and once you said yes it suddenly stopped, returning to the calm, happy music we hear now.” I sigh.

       “We have got to find our friends,  **_now_ ** .” I nod in agreement and we catch up to the little boy to continue searching for our friends. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaah! Ok! Been a long time and i have more than what's here but I wont put it up right now. I' haven't felt like writing recently so I'm going to save that chapter till a later post! Hopefully your enjoying this, even if no one has read it yet, and enjoy the story!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> So first off this is just sort of a story that i'm writing for fun and each chapter is really long because I'm trying to make it more like an actual book. This also means each chapter will take who knows how long to complete so be ready for long hiatus's.  
> Secondly you might be wondering why this is here if it's not really a fandom story or what ever. Well it is but it isn't at the same time. Some of the characters in the story are just friends of mine and others are people I admire online so yeah...  
> Thirdly I'm going to explain a bit since some of the story might not make sense. This story is sort of renascence themed, like y'know kings, magic, no electronics besides electricity used for lights, etc. But it's also sort of modern in some of the clothing used at the beginning, language, items and such in the story and more that i'm not sure if i'm using yet.
> 
> Anyways! I hope you enjoy the story non the less. Please leave a comment if there's any spelling/gamatical errors and if you know how to get indents in this thing. About 8 pages long. See ya in the next chapter!
> 
> -G


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